Ruby Dustpoint
by jitterwhack
Summary: She alone stands victorious with everyone she cared about on deaths door. So she decides to change it. But what happens when you change one small thing? Time traveler Ruby fic. Ships: ? ? ? Why? Because this is going to get trippy. (Up for adoption)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: **The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!**

 **AN: Hey everybody! This is Jitterwhack coming at ya with a new story. We've all seen time travel fics, but I wanna try and add my style of it. And if you remember how I sneak feels and stuff, then prepare for some of those things.**

 **Chapter 1:** Do-over

Ruby Rose has done it. After so much sacrifice, she finally has Salem on her knees in front of her. Behind her, Jaune stood with the corrupted body of Pyrrha Nikos with his sword stabbed thorough her chest and hers through his. Ren and Nora were no longer with them as they had fallen in a cave in fighting a Grimm wave. The rest of Team RWBY were nowhere to be seen as they had fallen one by one. Gritting her teeth at all her loss, she raised her scythe in the air with silver eyes flaring furiously.

SHWING!

"I win." Ruby muttered, scythe embedded into Salem's heart.

"Too bad you couldn't save all of them." She rasped out in her dying breath. With that said, the witch had dissolved slowly with the last look be a mocking smile.

"You're right." Ruby muttered, turning to see Jaune hanging by a thread with death close to taking him. "I couldn't save them all. …But I plan on doing it the next time."

While traveling with the others, Ruby had been getting strange dreams. In it, someone explained to her the possibilities of her powers. Of how her eyes and her semblance made it possible to change the tides in her favor. She couldn't make out a face, but for some reason she felt admiration and a deep pull to whoever was speaking to her.

She played it off as nothing, but after talking with Ren and Jaune, she started believing in the dreams. They said that it must be a sin or an omen. A lesson in disguise that were one of the mysteries of Remnant itself. Taking the advice, she learnt many ways to control her powers. And now, she was to use one she thought she'd never have to use.

"R-ruby." Jaune gasped, trying to keep his eyes open. "What're you doing?"

"…I'm sorry Jaune." She whispered, flaring her eyes up. Tears were falling from the corners of her eyes and running down her cheeks as she readied to use her semblance. "But I cant live in a world with all of you gone."

"Ruby. NO!" Someone shouted from behind her. But it was too late. The reaper had combined the power of her silver eyes with her semblance. She kept running until she finally saw what she was looking for.

 **New Day**

"Oof!" The little reaper grunted as she felt pain. "Why?"

Ruby Rose woke up to someone bodyslamming her in her own bed. Looking to her attacker, she had mixed feelings seeing her older sister with her head dug into her belly. Happy, because her sister was alive. Vengeful because of the pain she was in.

"Wake up sis." Yang said while ruffling her sister's hair. "Breakfast is ready and it's time for school."

"Yeah, yeah." The reaper grumbled, rolling out of bed and putting on her slippers.

As she was going to the kitchen, an odd sight had caught her eye as she was on her way. Sitting in the living room couch was a woman who looked like an older version of her. The only difference was that the woman had a white cloak instead of a red one and was a bit taller. She knew she wasn't seeing things because her older sister had walked over to give the woman a morning kiss on the cheek before heading into the kitchen to eat. Her mother was alive.

"Mom?" Ruby whispered, feeling her eyes sting. It had worked. Ruby Rose had changed time.

"Mom!" The little reaper hugged her mother as she saw her in the living room.

"Woah there." Summer Rose laughed. "What's all this about? You usually hug me after eating breakfast."

"I'm just so…so- hrrgk!" Whatever Ruby was to say next was cut off as she felt a splitting headache and her nose dripping as her body started convulsing.

"Ruby!" Summer shrieked, holding onto her daughter. Yang had came running in hearing the commotion. "Yang! Call a doctor. I think Ruby's having a seizure!"

"I'm on it!" The older sister said urgently, running to the phone.

As the two panicked over the youngest in the house, Ruby was going on a very trippy ride.

 ** _Mindscape_**

 _"_ _Are you sure about this?" Summer said, giving her husband a smile and a kiss._

 _"_ _It's cool." The old blonde said, not letting go of her. "You just stay with the kids and I'll handle the big bad Grimm."_

 _"_ _You're such a dork." The mother laughed, rolling her eyes. "Just come home soon. The bed feels awfully big without you next to me."_

 _"_ _Ooh." Taiyang wiggled his eyebrows. "More reason to come home quick."_

 _*flash*_

 _Summer was sitting in the living room with Yang on sitting next her and Ruby on her lap. The two were crying while Ruby slept soundly through their sobs. In the young blonde's hand was a picture of their dad._

 _"_ _It's going to be okay Yang." Summer sniffed, kissing the two girls on the forehead. "We'll get through this together."_

 _*flash*_

 _Taiyang was waking through the snow with gauntlets equipped and torch lighting the way. As he continued to walk, he didn't notice a glowing stinger hovering behind him until it was too late. Without any warning it had sailed down at a quick speed to the father's back and -_

 **Ruby's bed**

"Dad no!" Ruby gasped weakly, opening her eyes in shock and despair.

She forgot about the drawbacks of time travel. Her mind needed to absorb whatever memories the new timeline had made. She'd keep the old memories of the past timeline, but space would need to be made for the new ones. To do that, the brain would morph and go into overtime to get up to speed with the new timeline events. If she wanted, she could even peek into the timelines of the people she was close to. The voice in her dreams had called it psychometry. When she made contact with her mother, she had lost control and used it without proper preparation.

Beside's seeing her dad's death, she saw her mom and sister along with her trying to move on from it and succeeding. Summer had to work twice as hard to be a good mother while also earning enough money as a huntress to bring food and money to the table. She could remember all the hugs and kisses, Yang training hard with mom to be a future huntress, Qrow visiting to keep in touch and train Ruby, and even the two sisters pushing Qrow away when they suspected he was trying to make a move on their mom.

"Ruby." Her mother sighed, placing a hand on her daughter's. "You're okay."

Summer Rose had sat by her daughter's side the whole day. The doctor had come over to see the problem but couldn't find anything wrong. Ruby was the spitting image of health with no signs of irregularity besides an almost above average high blood sugar.

"I-I saw it." Ruby sobbed, clutching her mom's shirt while sobbing into her chest. "I saw how dad died. It was a Deathstalker."

"Ruby…" The mother whispered, tightening her hold on her. Yang and her had to tell Ruby how Taiyang had died when she asked why she didn't have a father. "It's okay. It was only a nightmare."

Not able to say anything more, the little reaper could only continue to cry in her mother's arms until Yang joined in.

 **The next day**

"Are you two sure you'll be alright?" Summer asked her two daughters as they were dropped in Vale a week after Ruby's episode. "The mission I'll be on will be just a few hours, so call me if anything."

"We'll be fine mom." Yang rolled her eyes. "We're just headed to the library and then some dust shop. It's fine. I still don't know why Ruby wants to head over to the dust shop. We're fully stocked as it is."

"I just need to get a few more canisters for an experiment." She lied. Truthfully this was the day she bumped into Torchwick and thwarted his plans, getting her an early enrollment into Beacon.

"Okay." The mother said, getting into her Bullhead. "But just in case, don't hesitate to call me on anything, alright?"

Getting a nod as they walked off, Summer watched as her kids became nothing but dots as she was flown away to kill a beast of unknown origin or purpose. With Yang around things might be a bit trickier, making it a very narrow window of opportunity to get into the school. She'll make sure everything goes okay.

 **With Ruby and Yang**

"So where are we really going?" Ruby asked her older sister. In all her timelines, she's never seen Yang enter a library if it didn't include a cute boy or a special event.

"To the library." The blonde said as if it was so obvious. "I'm still iffy on my Dust chemistry mixture, so I'd like some reference besides the Dustnet."

This was a new one. In her past time line, Yang was party girl. She was still a bit boyish, sometimes she was a bitch, but she still acted like the usual Yang. Just how much had her jump change?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Yang asked, brow quirked by how her little sister was gazing at her so weirdly.

"Nothing." Ruby said, deciding to test out her psychometry later. "I'm just wondering what I'll get in there."

With her past memories still intact, Ruby would be able to have her scythe back in it's Salem killing form. With more time on her hands now, she could even add more upgrades she wasn't able to do.

Days ago, she was tempted to travel back in time once more to save both her dad and mom, but a dream had informed her of the consequences of using time travel. Where death has taken, it will always take. No matter what she does, someone is bound to die in that time frame. There was no changing it.

Now that she thinks about it, what would this mean in trying to save Pyrrha? Or Penny? What about the rest of NPR and WBY? The last time line had them all die besides her. She couldn't just accept it as it was. If she saved them all, who would die?

"You okay?" Yang asked, snapping her sister out of deep thought. "You've been quiet for a really long time now. Longer than usual too."

"I'm fine." Ruby lied, the feeling in her gut getting worse. "I'm just …feeling anxious on this book I'm reading. I don't know if the characters will live or die."

"I know that feeling." The older sister nodded, having read her share of novels. "Sometimes I get caught up in who ends up with who or the important choice that seems so hard to predict."

"If only life was a novel." The little reaper sighed. "You could just rip a page out, remix it, and have the happy ending you want."

"Yeah but I think with the lack of control and feeling of inevitability, you have a deeper appreciation for the ending and a sense of relation to the characters not getting the perfect ending most people of society vie for." Ruby had to stop her mouth from dropping. Sure Yang was a smart girl, in her own way, but to be this smart and deep was something else. Maybe having a mother figure instead of their dad around caused a deep impact on her.

"O-okay." That's all she could say at the moment. It wasn't because she didn't understand her sister's words: it's more of the fact she couldn't get used to Yang sounding this smart.

As Yang continued on about her view on the remixes and the overused formulas, they had finally made it to the library. If Ruby was lucky, she could use her psychometry in a secluded area to personally see how much had changed. It was actually easy for her to find a spot since Yang had buried herself deep in a tick textbook.

"Let's see how much has changed." Ruby whispered, holding onto a picture of her and her sister she got from her wallet. Concentrating on the photo, Ruby felt the insides of her head twitch and pulse painfully as new information flooded her mind.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Happy birthday Yang." Summer smiled, handing a book over to the blonde girl._

 _Happily opening her present, Yang was presented with a fairy tail book. In Ruby's last timeline, she remembered her dad getting her a baseball bat and ball along with a few other sport toys. What hadn't changed was Qrow stopping by to give Yang a pair of kiddy boxing gloves._

 _"_ _Thanks mom." Yang smiled, opening up the book to see it's contents._

 _Timeskip_

 _"_ _Who is this person?" Yang asked Summer with tears in her eyes, holding a photo of team STRQ. She was pointing to Raven. "Why do I look like her?"_

 _"…_ _I'm sorry Yang." Summer whispered, kneeling to be eyelevel with her. "That's … you see… I didn't give birth to you."_

 _"_ _So… she's my real mom?" Yang asked, not believing what she was hearing._

 _"…_ _If you want that." It was clear Summer was hurt by what was happening by the tears about to leak out._

 _"_ _Where is she?" Yang asked, photo being crumpled in her hands. "Why isn't she here?"_

 _"…_ _She died, Yang." It would take a few days before the two patched up their relationship._

 _Timeskip_

 _"_ _I cant do this!" Yang grumbled, head on the kitchen table as she tried to do her remedial assignments. Her physical education was top notch, but everything else was below passing. "I swear, Uncle Qrow has it out for me."_

 _"_ _Don't be like that." Summer smiled, patting her daughter's head. "Maybe you just need to look at it from a different angle. Maybe if you think of it like game. It's how I made learning fun."_

 _"_ _Learning fun?" The blonde scrunched her nose. "I don't think so."_

 _"_ _Try it." The mother insisted. "Think of history and tactics like Remnant the Board Game, Grimm studies like that Pockey game you girls like to play, and Dust class like …"_

 _"…_ _That awesome anime with the blonde guy with the metal arm!" Yang smiled, getting where Summer was getting at. "Thanks mom."_

 _Timeskip_

 _"_ _I don't think this is a good idea Yang." Ruby said with a lisp. The two were hiding in the hallway as they eavesdropped on their mom and uncle's conversation._

 _"_ _Shush." Yang muttered, eyeing the two adults in the living room. "I think Uncle Qrow is trying to replace dad."_

 _"_ _I don't know Qrow." Summer sighed, taking a sip from her cup. "Maybe I should ask her first. It's a big decision. Who knows how she'll take it."_

 _"_ _Ah-ha!" The blonde daughter shouted, revealing herself and her sister. "I knew it! Well my answer is no Uncle Qrow!"_

 _What happened next was a huge misunderstanding as the two adults explained that they were discussing Ruby's early training with Qrow in scythe wielding. Although, Yang was still suspicious of her uncle when she saw his dejected look when Summer refused any sort of romantic relations between the two._

 _Timeskip End_

"Guh!" Ruby groaned, feeling her nose dripping slightly from the new information flooding in. It wasn't like the first time since she was prepared for it all. "So Raven's dead?"

That posed another question. If Raven is dead, that means another life was spared. The only question is, who was it?

"Yo Rubes, you done yet?" Yang asked, popping her head into the corner she was hiding in. "I finished a few minutes ago, and it's been like an hour now."

"I'm done." Ruby forced herself to say calmly. "Why don't we head off to that dust shop a few blocks over. I think it was called Dust til Dawn."

 **At the Dust Shop**

"So if I combine a wind and an ice, my shots will have a longer range and a faster cutting force?" Yang asked the old man.

While Yang continued to chat with the old man on the many combinations of dust, Ruby pretended to be in her spot when Torchwick and his gang had showed up. And right on cue, they had arrived just in time. The only difference was that Yang was with her now.

After dispatching the small time crooks, the two sisters had chased the notorious criminal to the roof where Cinder was piloting the ship.

 _'_ _Not this time.'_ Ruby snarled internally, taking aim at the Bullhead's engine. If she took Cinder and Torchwick down now, then chances are her friend would be saved. It might sound selfish considering another life may take their place, but it's all she could do for now.

"Ruby what are you doing!" Yang shouted, seeing her sister fire mercilessly at the ship. "You'll kill them!"

 _'_ _That's the plan.'_ She muttered darkly, smirking at seeing the wing explode and the ship careening downwards.

Sadly, instead of a loud boom, the ship was levitating in place. Looking behind them, they saw Glynda stomping over towards them with crop in hand to hold the criminals in place.

"I think you two should follow me." She muttered, eyeing the two younger girls with narrow eyes. All the while, Yang kept her eyes on her sister as if she didn't know who she was looking at.

 **Interrogation room**

The sisters had been separated. This was going according to plan for Ruby. From what she could hear, Cinder and Torchwick would be placed in holding and heavily guarded. With Glynda and possibly Ozpin around, there was little chance anything bad could happen.

"Ruby Rose." The headmaster said, entering the room to greet her. "My colleague has told me a lot about you."

"Okay?" Act natural, Ruby told herself. Play things right and she'll be back with friends. The lack of cookies was a small disappointment though.

"Tell me, where does an adorable girl such as yourself learn to wield one of the most deadliest weapons?" The aged man asked, walking towards her with cane tapping on the ground.

"Signal Academy." She said meekly. Play it by the book.

"…Really?" Ozpin muttered, halting beside her with a glare fixed on his face. "Because if I recall from the records we dug up, your mother has you enrolled in Lantern Academy."

That was a mistake on her part. She hoped this was a mistake that could be overlooked.

"Tell me, Ms. Rose." He continued, leveling with her. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Ozpin." She gulped, feeling nervous. "Headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"Correct." He nodded, standing up straight once more. "And did you know this room is being unwatched?"

"What?" She asked, not expecting that question. What Ruby felt next was pain. "Ow!"

"Congratulations Ms. Rose." The headmaster said bitterly after hitting her in the head with his cane. "You broke the time stream."

Hearing Ozpin's change in tone, Ruby finally figured out who the voice in her dreams belonged to. She was in the same room as the man who taught her how to use her time-traveling powers. More questions buzzed inside the little reaper's mind along with the fading pain.

 **To be continued…**

 **AN: …**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…** **You're still here. It's over. Next chapter isn't up yet.**

 **…**

 **…** **Oh you're waiting for me to say 'Anyways!' along with some other stuff. Yeah, I'm taking a break from that phrase.**

 **…**

 **…**

 **…** **Oh shoot! Yeah, one more thing. There's going to be a lot of turmoil and change in characters. Yang's obvious bookish smartness should have tipped it off. As for who lived while Raven died? I'll leave that up to you all. This story sort of incorporates the timelines of my other fics, so if you can guess things then you might get what might be happening. Let's hope you don't get it too right in your guesses. It takes the fun out of the suspense.**

 **And what's this? Ozpin being revealed as the mentor of her powers? What could this mean? Is he a friend or a foe?**

 **Look forward to the next chapter!**

 **Next time on Ruby Dustpoint:**

"I'm keeping an eye on you Ruby." Ozpin muttered, walking out the room.

"If you're sure about this sweety."Summer pouted, letting go of her youngest. "Take care of her Yang. And always remember to call me every night."

"Need help?"

"I'm sorry."

"The same company that went bankrupt overnight."

"Thank you, for bringing up my family's excruciating past failures."


	2. Repeat?

Disclaimer: **The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!**

 **AN: Hey there everyone. Coming at you all with another Dustpoint chapter. Truthfully, the other two chapters have a bit of writer's block since my moods feeling more …hard to describe it, but it fits this story better.**

 **Chapter 2:** Repeat?

Ruby didn't know what to say. This was the mysterious voice who taught her about her powers. If this were a cliché novel, his identity would have been revealed in the middle premise or at the very ending. But this wasn't a novel.

"Something troubling you Ruby?" He asked, not moving from his spot in front of her.

Shaking off the shock of what she learnt, the little reaper used her semblance to quickly grab hold of him. Just as she was about to use psychometry to read his past, she felt immense pain as too much information flooded her mind. It took the headmaster slapping her hand away to stop the knowledge from splitting her mind in half.

"I knew you would do that." He smirked, fixing the wrinkle from her grip. "Hope the pain wasn't too bad."

"If you knew it would happen," she rasped, clutching her temple while feeling the veins pulse violently. "why'd you let me do it?"

"To let you know." He said darkly, scaring her a bit. "I have traveled through time more times than you. My history runs farther than you could comprehend. To read it all is far more tedious than counting the stars in the sky. You may look into the lives of your friends, but looking into mine is your suicide. …Tell me, what's the last thing you remember from your previous timeline?"

"I remember… Salem." Ruby snarled, hating the man for the new pain. "My friends were dead, and I was all alone."

"Do you remember anything else?" The headmaster asked, walking over to have a seat. "Anything before that."

"…No." She whispered, dread filling her chest. "The journey to Salem, the ability to control my eyes. They're all gone! I can remember how I met my friends, but everything else is all muddled."

"Tell me Ruby." Ozpin said, leaning forward. "What color are your eyes?"

Out of all times, why would he ask her such a pointless and obvious question?

"Silver." She said as if she was describing the weather. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Seeing him shake his head before pulling out a mirror from his pocket, Ruby watched as he showed her reflection. "Look again."

She blinked as she focused on her image. Nothing was out of place. Everything seemed normal. Blinking from her eyes getting dry, she nearly dropped the mirror when her eyes turned from silver to lilac.

"What's going on?" She whispered, panic in her tone. Without her silver eyes, what chance would she have against Salem? What chance would she have of saving her friends? "Ozpin, what's happening?"

"Nothing is happening Ruby." He said calmly, taking his mirror back. "You have always been like this. In this time line, to be more specific. As shown, your mindset is still following the past timeline. So whatever changes this time has, you don't immediately see it. Think of it like looking at a painting everyday. You get used to the image so much, you don't notice any difference like a smudge or scratch until someone has pointed it out."

"But my powers!" She panicked, hyperventilating as this all came crashing down on her. "How will I get them back? How am I even using them now?"

"This isn't your first jump Ruby." The only man in the room calmly explained. "I'd explain more to you, but our time is almost up. You'll learn everything soon as you go through this timeline."

"But-!"

"I'm keeping an eye on you Ruby." Ozpin muttered, walking out the room. "Oh. And congratulations on making it into Beacon Academy."

As the door closed, Ruby was left to ponder on everything she thought she knew. Besides the dreams and mission to save her friends, with one power gone how will she get to everyone? This timeline isn't like her past, so she's going into the unknown. Getting up and exiting the room, she saw her mom and Yang waiting for her in the halls.

It was strange. She never noticed how Yang was dressed more conservatively instead of her usual shorts and tank top. It was similar to what she wore when Beacon fell. And her hair wasn't as shiny as it was. It was well kept, but showed signs of stress and damage.

"Thank goodness you're okay." Summer sighed, running up to bring her daughter in a hug. Yang lagged behind while giving her sister an unsure glance. "Yang told me everything. How you two were held up by Torchwick until Glynda came to the rescue."

So the older blonde didn't say of how Ruby was the one to shoot them down. Ruby was relieved for that. It would've been hard to explain herself to her mom.

"What was Ozpin doing in there?" Yang asked, sounding suspicious of why a headmaster was in a police station.

"…He invited me to his school." The scythe wielder said in a small voice. "He wants me in Beacon."

In her old timeline, Yang would have been up the wall in joy of having her join in Beacon early. But this Yang had a different reaction. She had hesitation in her eyes mixed with yearning. "And?"

"I wanna go." Ruby said, hugging her mom tighter. "It's a once in a lifetime chance."

"But you can enter two years later." The older sister rebutted. "How is that a once in a lifetime?"

"I mean it's a once in a lifetime to head in early." The little sister shot back, wondering why her sister was against it. "Ozpin thinks I'm ready, and if I'm not… then I can just say so and come back to Sa- Lantern."

The mother was stuck on what to do. On one hand, sending her youngest to Beacon at an early age was a great honor. But her maternal instincts cried for her to keep her longer. She would be younger than everyone else and it frightened what would happen. She's always made sure to show equal love to both her daughters without showing any signs of favoritism. She knows Yang is reluctant to have her younger sister join so early, but something tells her the two need this time to be together more than ever.

"If you're sure about this sweety." Summer pouted, letting go of her youngest. "Take care of her Yang. And always remember to call me every night."

"But mom-" Yang couldn't protest as the older woman placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Please Yang." The blonde couldn't say anything after seeing the hurt in her mom's eyes. "I think you two need this time without me. So please, just do this for me. Both of you."

"…Okay." The limited days they had were spent trying to enjoy one another's company until it was time to set off.

 **On the ship ride to Beacon**

"Nice view, huh sis?" Yang smiled, pointing out the window. "Wish my scroll didn't die out. Would've been a sweet wallpaper if I took a shot."

"Yeah." But Ruby wasn't looking at the view.

She was glancing around, trying to find the first friend she made on this day. If Yang's personality was changed, what else could have changed? Would he still be motion sick? Was he even the same gender?

"I guess the view isn't for everybody." The blonde muttered, seeing her sister's attention elsewhere. Just as she was about to say something else, the older sister felt someone bump into her. "What?"

"I'm sorry."

Ruby whipped her head to her sister's side the moment she heard that voice. There was no mistaking it. …But it was too early.

Standing in front of them was Pyrrha Nikos. …Although, the way she was looking wasn't how Ruby remembered her. This Pyrrha's appearance was poor if she was honest. No longer did she wear bronze armor, but a simple white tracksuit that covered most of her body. And it wasn't even that form fitting since it was baggy enough to hide most of her curves. Her once long red hair Ruby remembered was now an apple cut. And Ruby has never seen Pyrrha without her green eyeliner until now. She was still pretty, but more of in an average earthly way.

"It's fine really, just-" Whatever Yang was about to say next was cut off Pyrrha puked on the floor in front of them and onto Yang's shoes.

"…Like you said Yang." Ruby said while witnessing what she thought she'd never witness. "The views not for everyone."

Walking over to help Pyrrha, Ruby secretly plucked a piece of the girl's hair to use later for psychometry.

 **Beacon Academy**

"This didn't change much." Ruby muttered, seeing her sister run off with her friends and leaving her behind.

She was fine with it though. She couldn't find Jaune, but she found Pyrrha who was now lagging behind her while clutching her gut. She's learnt to accept that not everything will repeat itself like her past timeline. Although, having Yang to help with the huge and heavy luggage their mom packed for her would have been nice since Pyrrha was too weak at the moment to help out.

"Need help?" A feminine voice said, taking some of the weight off Ruby's shoulders. A voice Ruby was extremely happy to hear.

They found each other. Or more of she found her. Turning around, Ruby was happy to see her BFF, Weiss Schn-.

…

Somehow, Ruby should have known by now that not everyone would be as she remembered them. For one, this Weiss was actually smiling brightly without a scar on her eye. Another, was just like Pyrrha, she was looking poor as in: Hand me down Winter uniform that was a size too small in a lot of areas, hand me down sword, and lack of ornaments.

 _'_ _I know my jump changed things, but what happened to these two?'_ The time traveler thought, wondering how the rest of her friends would appear. Admittedly, her best friend looked adorable in Winter's clothing, but now wasn't the time to gush. _'What else did my jump do?'_

"Thanks." Ruby tried to play off as her usual quirky self. "I'm Ruby by the way. Ruby Rose."

"Weiss." The white haired teen said with a strained smile.

"…And your last name?" Pyrrha asked, finally over her sickness to help carry some of the luggage.

"Schnee." A cool voice answered for them. "The same Schnee from the Schnee Dust Company."

Somehow this was a great day for Ruby since all her friends were piling up together so quickly. And it was her other friend and silent teammate: Blake! And as Ruby turned to her, she was relieved to see nothing about her had changed that much. Now to get the other three from RNJR and they'll all be complete!

"The same company that went bankrupt overnight." The cat faunus said with a hidden smirk. "All due to a faunus rights movement that caught the ear of many who saw it as injustice from all the company's benefactors. It's amazing how they tried to rise back up but failed due to lack of patronage and trust."

Okay, maybe it wasn't so great to see Blake at this current time. Maybe it would have been better if it was at night. Preferably with her mouth taped. And maybe with less antagonizing.

"Thank you, for bringing up my family's excruciating past failures." The white haired teen said through gritted teeth and a forced smile. "It's nice to know that while I'm trying to wash myself off my family's history, I'm still pegged wrongly."

"W-why don't we all just head on over to the auditorium?" Pyrrha said, trying to be the man in the middle. "I'm sure after a nice introduction and a few apologies, we can all see ourselves being the best of friends."

 _'_ _Thank you Pyrrha!'_ Ruby shouted internally, happy to see someone take the lead.

As they walked together, the four girls chatted and were able to come to a neutral ground. Weiss accepted Blake's presence, Blake was sorry for her rude comments, and Pyrrha was still the same formal person. Ruby had to be careful, lest she lose herself in mixing the two time lines.

At the moment, they were complete strangers to one another. But to Ruby, they were her true friends that she couldn't live without.

"We still have enough time before the headmaster gives his speech." Weiss commented as they made it inside. "How about introductions on skill sets? Who knows? Maybe we'll become this year's femme fatale team."

"Sounds fine." Blake shrugged. Pyrrha was in for sharing. Ruby on the other hand…

"Okay. But I need to use the bathroom first." The little reaper lied. In truth, she was curious on this Pyrrha's life. "Why don't you guys start without me, and I'll come back to share my own?"

Not waiting for a reply, she ran out to a secluded area near the statue to read Pyrrha's past. Taking the piece of hair she took from the Amazon, she readied herself and used psychometry.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Are you ready?" A tall man asked a very young Pyrrha. "This is your debut. The first match."_

 _"_ _I-I don't know coach." The little redhead stuttered holding up a shield and sword. "I think-"_

 _"_ _Enough thinking!" The coach shouted. "Just go out there and bring home the gold!"_

 _Timeskip_

 _"_ _Ladies and gentlemen!" An announcer laughed. "We've seen a lot of losses, but none like this."_

 _There was a recording of Pyrrha falling out of the ring. She had charged the enemy head on with sword pointing to stab and shouting a loud battlecry and eyes shut tight. That was a mistake as her opponent only needed to sidestep out of her way as she ran straight out of the ring, costing her the match._

 _Pyrrha's coach was ashamed of her, but continued to train her because of a contract her parents put under him._

 _Timeskip_

 _Pyrrha had lost another match in the first round. This time, by having her semblance accidentally have her shield smack her in the facea and knocking her out._

 _Timeskip_

 _Another match lost once more. This time, it was due to the coach's new diet he gave her. Before her match, she was forced to drink a green sludge that was supposed to energize her. Instead, she puked on stage and had the lights knocked out of her by a sucker punch to the back of her head._

 _Timeskip_

 _This was the match she was hoping on. After her coach ran out on her, Pyrrha took her training more seriously than ever. If she won this, then everyone would stop ridiculing her as the three time loser of Mystral. She had made it to the semifinals where her opponent was a Dust user. She fought valiantly against her foe, but had lost the match._

 _Many people who saw this fight stopped calling her a loser, but the tabloids and Dustnet still did all they could to push her name into the mud. As of now, Pyrrha Nikos had given up on fighting in tournaments._

 **KRRRSHSRT!**

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _It's a beautiful boy." A doctor announced to a female faunus with scales under her eyes. "What will you name him?"_

 _Timeskip_

 _"_ _You must let me in!" The woman shouted to guards in front of a gate to a beautiful home with a baby in her arms. "He needs to see him."_

 _"_ _Leave, wench!" One of the guards shouted, brandishing a sword._

 _The woman left reluctantly after her baby had started to cry._

 _"_ _You'll see him soon." The mother told the crying infant, opening her blouse to feed him._

 _Timeskip_

 _"_ _Are you sure?" An older looking woman asked the mother with child in hand._

 _"_ _I am." She nodded frantically. "I can't have my son growing with a prostitute for a mother. And his father has sent men to kill him too. It's best if we left."_

 _"_ _I'm giving you back your real name to protect yourself." The woman said, handing over an envelope with some Lien. "Goodbye, Mia Niege. I hope you have a safe travel out of the desert."_

 _"_ _Thank you, Madame." Mia scoffed while caressing her baby's cheek._

 _Timeskip_

 _It was blue and beautiful. A baby was now a teenage boy diving under the water with a swim cap on. His mother was close by and she held in her hands a spear with the sharp end made from a carved Ice crystal. As she pointed further down, they spotted a sea Grimm circling below them. The boy took out a big red knife that boiled the water around it from the heat it radiated. As a team, mother and son dove down fast and attacked the Grimm._

 _Flashback End_

"Hey!" A voice shouted as Ruby woke up from her trip. Her breathing was haggard once more and her nose was dripping with blood.

Someone had touched her in the middle of her psychometry. It was a flaw that she couldn't get rid of at the moment. If someone was to touch her while in her trance, then the feed would go from the one to the next.

As her eyes adjusted to whoever interrupted her, while still in a blurry state she saw blonde hair and tan skin with a bulky build.

"Dad?" Ruby whispered, reaching a hand to touch his face. She was happy when he had grasped her hand.

"Woah there." The male said, slowly picking her up. From what she could see in a blurry state, his eyes were blue too, just like his. "I'm way too young to be a dad."

"Oh." Of course. Her dad was dead.

As her vision returned with the male standing in front of her, Ruby was both in shock and wonder as who she found in front of her.

"I'm Jaune Niege." The blonde faunus said, waiting for an introduction in return. "And you are?"

She found him. Her first friend she made and- Did he say his name was Niege and not Arc? This was going to be a problem.

 **To be continued…**

 **AN: And the four other pieces are shown, only slightly different in some ways. If someone gets the Niege last name meaning, hope you see what I did there.**

 **If you're wondering what kind of faunus Jaune is, then I'll give you a hint: Velvet might be scared of him, and Blake might get her erotic wishes if Pyrrha doesn't snag him first.**

 **Why is Ozpin acting all dark? Cant say because of spoilers.**

 **Why's Yang acting distant with her sister when last chapter she was all for being loving? Remember folks: This Yang is smarter. She doesn't know anything about the future danger. She just saw her sister she loves dearly do a one eighty from an innocent happy hero in training to a ruthless warrior hell bent on causing murder without caring. She's smart and more analytic on things. She's not just going to take things at face value and say "Oh you almost killed them, but nevemind that I thought you were innocent and merciful. And Ozpin, a headmaster for a school to train warriors, is here to recruit you? Nevermind how he found out so quickly and got here. We saved the day, you're coming with me to Beacon, and I love you."**

 **I have to admit though: I don't think I've ever read a fic where Pyrrha is seen as a failure or just a normal girl. Or one where Weiss is poor with a bad reputation. So I'm playing the waters out. As for Blake: Is she really the same as before?**

 **Don't worry everyone. Jaune wont take up the whole stage. Everyone gets their spotlight. So it's best to pay attention to all characters because you might say something like: "What and how?" or "Dafuq? This came out of nowhere."**

 **Would love to hear what you guys think, because this is the red and blue pill taken at the same time and it's going somewhere.**

 **Next time on Dustpoint:**

"Jaune's a faunus and Pyrrha's a famous loser? How is that my fault?" The reaper shouted to the skies.

"Well, well, well." Nora sneered at seeing a green clad ninja who was looking timid and shy. "I'm surprised you got in here with your skills."


	3. Pieces?

Disclaimer: **The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!**

 **AN: Hey there everyone. Coming at you all with another Dustpoint chapter. Truthfully, the other two chapters have a bit of writer's block since my moods feeling more …hard to describe it, but it fits this story better.**

 **Chapter 3:** Pieces?

Somehow, things just keep getting more complicated for Ruby. She could accept that her friends weren't how she remembered them, but having them lose what gave them an edge to winning against the greater forces was just too much. And to make things worse, without her silver eyes, she doesn't have the easy way of time traveling.

"You okay there?" The not Arc of this timeline asked her, as she was being really quiet.

"Yeah." She uttered after wiping her nose from the blood, studying the person in front of her. "I'm fine."

No, she was not. She was far beyond okay. There were too many changes that happened to her in the past few hours, and now one of her close friends turned into a faunus. Now that she thought about, what kind of faunus was he? She's never seen a faunus with scales before. From the memory she had, could he be part fish?

"Are you sure?" The blonde faunus asked, unable to leave in good conscience. "You were bleeding. And I'm pretty sure you were having a small seizure."

"Yeah, yeah." She waved a hand, giving him a toothy smile. "It's just that being here and all is kind of overwhelming."

 _'_ _Okay brain.'_ Ruby gulped while trying to stay focused. It was kind of hard for her since this Jaune reminded her too much of Yang's not so secret manga on guys in a swimming club. _'Just calm down. It's still Jaune. Let's just hope he- HE DOESN'T HAVE CROCEA MORS!'_

The blade that was supposed to be so powerful it didn't need sharpening was not strapped to Jaune's waist. Instead, he had the same knife in her visions that was held by a red sash wrapped around him. Once he was out of earshot, Ruby ground her teeth in annoyance and released a heavy breath after nearly pulling her hair out.

"E-excuse me for a bit." She said, backing up a bit. "I just need to go and …freak out on something far away."

Using her semblance, she ran far away until she was sure she was out of hearing distance from anyone.

"Jaune's a faunus and Pyrrha's a famous loser? How is that my fault?" The reaper shouted to the skies.

Getting no answer, she ran back to the blonde to try and make a friendly connection. She was happy to see that he was still waiting in the same spot while staring at the statue while deep in thought.

"Sorry about that." She chimed, getting his attention back. "Still had some nerves to kill. Let's start over. …I'm Ruby Rose."

"And I'm Jaune Niege." He repeated his intro. "Nice to meet you Ruby."

"Same." She smiled. After that, there was an awkward silence between the two. "…So I see you have a knife. That's cool."

"It's a jambiya to be more specific." He pointed out, unfurling it from his sash. "My mom wanted me to use a spear, but I felt more comfortable with this."

"Does it do anything?" She asked. Getting a raised brow, she pulled out Crescent Rose as a demonstration. "I use a scythe, but it's also a high impact sniper rifle. …A gun."

"I got that." He said, knowing what it meant. "But I don't have any firearms.… It has this though."

Taking the knife out of its sheath, Ruby saw that it was black instead of the red she saw in her vision. As she was about to make judgment on it, Jaune made a short vertical swing and made a trail of fire follow along with it. The blade was still black but it showed signs of glowing red.

"What? How? Bwuh?" She's seen her share of weaponry, but none have ever done that before.

The weapons nerd in her was squealing, wanting to grab the weapon and dismantle it to find it's secrets and put it back together once more.

"Yeah." The blonde male smiled, remembering his reaction. "When I got this knife, I had it infused with wind and fire crystals."

"B-but overheating!" She stuttered, trying to find the words. "And the alloy, and melting points, and-"

"I know." He sighed, putting the blade away. "It took me and my mom a lot of trial and error to find the right balance and alloy take the heat and not break. Then I had to find a way to control it so I can choose when to make fire or not."

Before they could talk more about weapons, Ruby's scroll had gone off reminding her about the auditorium.

"We gotta go." She said, grabbing his arm and using her semblance to bring them the auditorium in time for Ozpin's speech.

As they entered, Weiss had waved them over before the lights had started to dim. Dragging Jaune, she had him sit next to Blake while she sat in between Pyrrha and Weiss.

"Sorry I was late." She whispered to her friends. "I got a bit side-tracked."

"We can see that." Weiss said while staring at the male with them. "You sure work fast."

"Beacon sure is diverse." Pyrrha commented staring at the blonde's scales. "There aren't that many snake faunus in this region. Usually they stick to the desert areas."

That was new to Ruby. Most of the faunus she's remembered seeing were all mammal based. She had to save those thoughts for another time since Ozpin was now on stage.

"Hello." The grey haired man started. "I see all of you and… am truly disappointed. I see untapped potential that has been wasted with no direction or proper drive."

 _'_ _Wow.'_ Ruby thought with a pout. _'Way to go and give people a speech saying they suck, Ozpin.'_

"But do not be disheartened." The headmaster continued. "That is why you are here. But don't think knowledge gained will help you in finding yourself. That is for you to do on your own. And I hope you can do so in these walls. Welcome to Beacon."

No one clapped as he got off stage. Ruby shifted her eyes to Goodwitch and saw she was looking downcast in deep thought. Almost like she was uncomfortable being there. After she announced for everyone to get their sleeping gear ready, Ruby had gone off with Weiss and the others to prepare.

 **Nighttime**

While going to their lockers to set their things, the girls ran into Yang, who's locker was right next to her sister's. Females had to be separated from the males during preparation, so none had a proper introduction to the snake faunus in the group. Ruby took note how Blake was a bit on edge around him. Then again, Blake did have some sort of hatred for Zwei.

And that was another sad part of this timeline. Her dad was the one to find Zwei and bring him to the sisters. Ruby had searched all over Patch for the little corgi, but came out empty-handed. All she could hope for was that the little guy was in a nice home and not in some street alone.

Shaking her head out of her funk, Ruby settled down with her friends as they finished putting on their sleepwear. And again, what her friends had on now was way different from what she remembered. Blake and Yang were still the same, but it was the other two. Weiss was in a snuggy and a night hat, and Pyrrha was in lion footy pajamas. The kind that had a hood with the face and mane. And when she turned around to fix her sleeping bag, all females saw that it came with a tail.

"What are you wearing?" Blake commented on Pyrrha's choice of noght wear.

"I'm very sensitive to the cold." The redhead blushed, hiding her face in the hood. "I've tried to get used to it, but I always wake up with cold pains. This is how I deal with it."

"It's fine." Blake raised her arms defensively. "It's just …rare to find those nowadays."

 _'_ _Did I cause this?'_ Ruby thought while staring up to the ceiling. _'It's like Pyrrha is the Jaune of this time. Did I cause her to be like this?'_

So deep in her thought, the little reaper failed to notice Jaune walking in with the other guys. She was snapped out of her thoughts though when she heard slow clapping echoing in the room. Looking to the source, she found another friend she needed to help save the world.

Clapping with a grimace on her face was Nora Valkyrie. Her hair was a bit longer and messier, but it was still Nora. And where there was Nora, lo and behold, there was Ren. Although the way the two were staring at each other was disconcerting.

"Well, well, well." Nora sneered at seeing a green clad ninja who was looking timid and shy. "I'm surprised you got in here with your skills."

"Hello Nora." Ren said, trying to keep things civil in public. "It's nice meeting you here."

"Whatever." She muttered, walking past him and bumping his shoulder hard. "See you at initiation… shithead."

Ruby was seeing a lot of things she thought she'd never see. Her sister being smart. Weiss being poor. Pyrrha being… Jaune. Jaune being se- a faunus! And now Nora and Ren are like bitter rivals? What's next? Blake not being a faunus?

…

Turning to Blake, Ruby looked her over trying to see anything missed. Amber eyes? Check. Black hair? Check. Complexion? Check. Bo-

Ruby had to hold a gasp at what she missed. Blake's bow was gone! Not just that, but so were her cat ears! She wasn't a faunus. She was a regular human.

 _'_ _B-but the whole faunus rights thing. How she roasted Weiss's family!'_ So far, Ruby needed a notebook to write down all the questions she wanted answers to.

"Cute footy pajamas." Jaune commented, walking up to the girls and sitting next to Pyrrha. "Where can I get one of those?"

"You don't have to patronize me, you know." The redhead pouted, used to people making fun of her.

"I'm not kidding. I really want one." The blonde snake said with a smile. "The cold is a killer on my joints. Sometimes I even get muscle cramps."

"I know what you mean." Pyrrha smiled, finding something in common with the male. "It's horrible isn't it?"

 _'_ _I ship it.'_ Ruby smiled, seeing the two get along. _'At least something is going right. Now to sink the deal on them.'_

"So how about you two partner up?" The little reaper suggested innocently. "I'll take Weiss. Blake and Yang partner up. And you two get together."

"Woah there, Rubes." Yang stopped her from getting ahead of herself. "We don't even know how pairing up will work. Mom said she got with dad by picking a name out of a hat. It's always done differently so no one's prepared for who they get."

That was something that was foreboding. Her last encounter with Ozpin wasn't too pleasant, so chances were that he'd either do things like last time or do things differently.

"E-either way, it would be a great line up, right?" The youngest amongst them tried to push on.

"I guess so." Blake shrugged, laying down on her sleeping bag. "Let's just see what tomorrow brings."

Getting an agreement from everyone else, they all got an early rest for what was to come the next morning.

 **Cliffside**

Getting her things from her locker was a bit awkward for Ruby that morning. As it turned out, Pyrrha's combat clothing really was her tracksuit. Milo and Akouo weren't even how she remembered them. Instead of a javelin/rifle/sword, Milo was just a spear that doubled into a bow. Akouo was still a shield, but it was completely worn out looking instead of it's polished bronze color.

And besides Pyrrha, Jaune was dressed in a trisuit. Again: Ruby was reminded of Yang's swimming club manga. At least she wasn't the only one guilty of staring though. She caught the other girls ogling, so it wasn't just her.

At least the initiation was still the same. Here they were standing on platforms ready to catapult them into the Emerald Forest. The landscape was a bit different from what she remembered, but it was still the same.

What was strange though was that Ozpin wasn't present to inform them of what to do. It was Glynda who was waiting for them to give them the instructions.

"All of you will be launched into the Emerald Forest to retrieve an artifact form the ruins." The blonde disciplinarian explained. "Your partner will be the first person you see once you've touched the ground. The time limit of the initiation is until the sun sets. Any questions? …None? Very good."

Without warning, all students were launched into the air at the same time. And again, Ruby had to change her plans on the spot to find Weiss before anyone else did. Once she secured her, then she'd use her semblance to speed around and get her sister and Blake. It was foolproof.

 **Five minutes later**

So getting Weiss was easy since she had barreled into her when she summoned a glyph while they were both still in the air. The landing was rough, but who cared. Ruby had her bff and partner by her side.

"Again, I'm really sorry for crashing into you." Weiss apologized for the seventh time.

"It's fine Weiss." Ruby smiled, happy something was going her way. "We're partners now so we gotta get along."

"O-okay." The glyph user smiled in turn. "So any idea on which direction to go?"

"I was thinking of getting Yang and Blake first." The hooded girl admitted. "The more numbers the safer we'll be, right?"

"Sounds good." As the two ventured off to find the others, they didn't notice a shift in the trees.

 **With Pyrrha**

"Well this is just great." The redhead mumbled as she sat on her spear.

During her landing strategy, she used her spear to embed itself in the tree she was on to stop her from hitting the ground. Sadly, she embedded Milo too deep that she couldn't pull her weapon out.

"Maybe if I wait here, someone will come along." Pyrrha said to no one as she tried once more to pull her weapon out of the tree.

Hearing rustling behind her, she took her shield from her back to defend herself incase it was a Grimm. As the rustling got closer, she heard the sounds of male grunting and the swinging of metal.

"Jaune?" She called out, hoping it was her new friend she made the other night.

The rustling had stopped for a bit before it continued once more while getting closer to her.

 **Back with Ruby and Weiss**

"So that's why you two don't look much alike." Weiss nodded, learning something about her partner.

"Yeah." Ruby shrugged, looking around for any signs of blonde or black hair. "It didn't really matter to me though. I grew up believing she was my sister and that's not changing."

As they continued to search, Ruby heard the distinct sounds of shotgun blasts and something whizzing in the air. She'd know those sounds from anywhere. With countless practicing, she knew who those sounds belonged to. Grabbing Weiss, she zoomed to the sounds getting louder and was elated to see her sister and Blake fighting a pack of Beowulves.

"We found you!" Ruby cheered, getting the attention of the other Grimm. "…Oh poopy."

Shifting Crescent Rose into scythe mode, she sliced one of the grim trying to flank her and her partner. Turning to Weiss, Ruby went slack jawed seeing her partner easily summon her own white Alpha Beowulf that started attacking the others.

 _'_ _Maybe we will have a higher chance of surviving this time.'_ Ruby smiled while turning back to slicing Grimm down.

The Grimm were gone in no time flat. Turns out, a smarter Yang meant she was also a smarter fighter. Blake was no longer a faunus but she was still as sharp as ever. And as Ruby just saw, Weiss was now more adept at using all her glyphs, including the summon one.

"We are the most kick butt team ever!" Ruby smiled while jumping up and down.

"Have to agree with you there, sis." Yang smiled, patting her partner on the back. "It's like we were made for each other."

"Well Ruby." Weiss started. "We found your sister and Blake. Should we head off to the ruins now?"

"Yup." The little reaper nodded, shifting her weapon back into portable mode. "If we run into Jaune and Pyrrha, let's have them tag along."

"I say we wait at the ruins for them." The older sister suggested. "If we're all supposed to go there, chances are we'll run into them there."

"…Does anyone even know where the ruins are?" Blake asked, popping their bubble.

Ruby remembered what the ruins looked like, but getting there was different. After all, going by air was different from trekking the forest and remembering landmarks.

"…Let's just keep an open eye for anything that looks like it." Ruby sighed, walking ahead with her partner in tow.

 **Two hours later**

They had made it. After going through tall grass, killing Grimm charging at them, and even taking a short break to recharge; they had finally made it to the ruins. Best part was, they found Pyrrha leaning against one of the ruin walls while holding a white rook piece in her hand.

"Pyrrha!" Yang greeted, running over to give the girl a high five. "You made it here before we did."

"I thought I'd wait for you four." The redhead smiled, waving to all her friends. "I saw the pieces on the pedestal were untouched, so I knew I was the first to arrive with my partner."

"So you and Jaune made it here first." Ruby smiled, getting the two white knight pieces and tossing one to Blake. "Where is he?"

"…Jaune's not my partner Ruby." The tall redhead informed the time traveler.

"T-then who is?" Ruby asked, not liking the news at all. Yang and Blake took notice of the change in her mood.

"I am." A familiar male voice said behind the girls.

Turning around, Ruby and co saw Ren smiling while giving them a small wave. "Hello. I'm Arc Lie Ren. Nice to meet you all."

Ruby took note of the weapon strapped to his hip and knew for sure he wasn't lying. Ren had Crocea Mors as his weapon.

 **To be continued…**

 **AN: What what what? Ren is an Arc? What is going on? Team RWBY is turning out to be a well-oiled machine, but what about the others? Are roles being reversed? As I've said, things are getting trippy.**

 **On another note: Put down those pitchforks and torches shippers. Nothing is confirmed yet. I already have a ship on mind, but if you're enough to read my mind: you'll know who it is.**

 **Next time on Dustpoint:**

"Why did you help me?"

"Onwards to victory!"

"I'm helping them with or without you."

"And the teams are…"


	4. Go Team?

Disclaimer: **The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!**

 **AN: Hey there all. Another Dustpoint chapter coming at ya. After this it's NoL will be getting a chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:** Go team?

Ruby was looking over the new Ren before her. Just like with the others, she took note of the many changes of her silent male friend. Unlike his past green and white motif, he wore a white gi with black pants that was armored with white plates at the knees and shins. His ponytail was also placed into a topknot with the pink streak gone. Back to his weapons, he didn't have the dual SMG daggers but Crocea Mors in all it's glory.

"S-so you're Pyrrha's partner." The time traveler said with a forced smile. All Ren did was nod in response.

 _'_ _It's okay. So long as team JNPR still forms, it doesn't matter.'_ She thought while watching her sister and friends interact with the eastern boy. _'Now we just have to wait for Jaune and Nora.'_

 **With Nora**

Nora Valkyrie trudged through the forest hacking at trees with her mighty great axe that doubled as a rocket launcher. Any Grimm that came close to her were easily cleaved in half the moment they dared to strike at her. The reason she was hacking at trees though was because her red cape kept getting snagged on the wigs and branches.

"Hello?" She called out, hoping to find someone to partner up with.

Getting no response, she continued to hack at the trees until she heard the sounds of battle a few feet to her left. From the sounds of things, it was a male with a bladed weapon judging by the sounds of metal singing. This was her chance if she was lucky!

As she neared the battle, she saw the lone male facing off against an Ursa Major. He was holding himself off well as seen by the cuts embedded into the Grimm. Jumping in to help finish the job, Nora decapitated the giant bear with ease and watched as it's remains scattered into the winds.

"Thank you." The boy said, putting away his weapon.

"No need." Nora said with a smirk, lending a hand he accepted. "I'm Nora by the way. From the looks of things, we're partners for the next four years. What's your name?"

"I'm Sky." The male identified himself. "Sky Lark."

"Nice meeting you." The ginger smiled, gripping his hand and bumping his shoulder before pointing in the ruin's direction. "Onwards to victory!"

Sky didn't know why, but he felt like he got a great partner.

 **With Jaune**

Jaune was currently on top of a tree branch soaking wet and bare foot. Scanning the forest for any clear spaces or plains, he took not of a few and memorized their distances.

"You see anything?" A gruff male voice called from below.

Looking down, Jaune nodded towards his partner for the next four years: Cardin Winchester. Although the bulky teen wasn't so keen to work with him, he at least was civil enough to try and get along. Then again, it might have been because the blonde snake had saved his life.

 _Flashback_

 _As Jaune was launched into the air with the others, he had easily caught onto a branch and used the momentum to swing his way downwards until he landed nicely on the ground with a roll. Looking at his surroundings, he had landed near a lake. And it was a deep one too judging by how dark the water was in the middle. As he turned away to find a partner and the ruins, he heard someone shouting in panic from above._

 _Turning up, he saw a heavily armored male initiate plummeting downwards until he had made a bog splash in the near center of the lake. The male's head had pushed upwards gasping for air while trying to stay afloat._

 _"_ _H-help!" Cardin shouted, trying to paddle his way but failing due to his armor's weight. "I'm sinking!"_

 _With the panic, came the attraction of Grimm. As Jaune had dove in to help the drowning teen, a King Taijitu had slithered into the waters to do the opposite. It was a race of who would get to the drowning hunter first._

 _Sadly, the Grimm had made it first with jaws opening to swallow the human. Seeing this, Jaune had taken out his knife and swung a shot of fire to repel the Grimm. Continuing to do so while getting closer to the drowning man, the blonde faunus dove under him to give better support. It wasn't easy with the armor pushing him down, but thanks to his experience in fighting underwater most of his childhood, Jaune was able to hold his breath much longer._

 _Not feeling himself sinking deeper anymore, Cardin turned to the Grimm swimming his way. Pulling his mace out of the water, he swung it back and forth to keep it at bay until he and whoever his savior was had made it to shallow waters._

 _"_ _Smile you son of a bitch!" Cardin shouted while shooting an explosion out of his mace as the Grimm tried to snap at him once more._

 _As it reeled back, the heavily armored teen felt the person underneath him push him off. He felt the ground below him, and the water waist high. As his savior came up for a breath of air, Cardin was shocked to see a faunus was what saved him. Shaking it off for later as the giant Grimm had hissed in front of them, he readied himself to fight._

 _The black snake head had lunged at Cardin first, but was bashed on the top of the head by his mace. He had continued doing so until the snake had gone limp in front of him._

 _"_ _Yeah!" Cardin shouted in triumph, smashing a fist onto the fading Grimm's eye. "How you like that!"_

 _It was short lived though as the white snake head had shot from behind out of the water and headbutted him. Jaune had jumped onto the head and continued to stab it multiple times. After the sixth stab, he had stuck the blade deep in and triggered the fire to burn the head. Getting off the dead Grimm, he waded to Cardin and pulled him closer to the shores._

 _"_ _Are you okay?" The blonde asked, after they had made it to dry land._

 _"_ _Why did you help me?" The armored teen grunted, not liking he was saved by a faunus._

 _"_ _Why not?" Jaune shrugged, not getting his attitude but shaking it off. "Anyways. Looks like we're partners for the next four years. My name's Jaune Niege. Yours?"_

 _"…_ _Cardin Winchester." He said gruffly while walking ahead._

 _End Flashback_

During their trek together, Cardin had refused to say anything that acknowledged his presence. Jaune was used to it by now. Although he grew up most of his life on a small island where every citizen knew one another, there were still the occasional few that harbored prejudice against the faunus. But after helping in dispatching Grimm and showing the community that there was nothing to hate, he and his mother were able to live in peace. The snake just had to show his partner that he there was no reason to hate him.

"I'm seeing an open plain a few miles to our right." Jaune called down to his partner. "From the looks of it, there are people standing there. I think I know a few of them."

"Good for you." The chestnut haired teen rolled his eyes, not caring much on the extra info. "Now get down from there so we can finish the initiation before sunset."

Jumping down, Jaune lead the way while Cardin followed grudgingly. In any other situation, Cardin would have just left the blonde to fend for himself. But this was an initiation and like it or not, the snake faunus was his partner. Added that his life was saved by him and had held his own against a huge Grimm gained a bit of his respect.

He may hate faunus, but Cardin was raised to always uphold honor and dignity. As his father had once said to him before: You may have an enemy today and an enemy tomorrow son. But even enemies can show respect. And if your enemies fail to do so, then by all means: Beat it into them.

"H-hey." The teen said gruffly, trying to swallow his pride.

As Jaune turned around to look at him, Cardin had to suppress a shudder at seeing the scales under his eyes. Clearing his throat, he swallowed whatever pride and prejudice he held.

"I didn't get to thank you for… helping me out back then." He said while staring at his feet. "So… thanks."

"You're welcome." His partner nodded, turning back to walk again. "It's part of what we do, right?"

"Excuse me?" The bulky teen asked, not getting the context.

"Future Hunters." The blonde clarified, waving a hand. "We're supposed to help who we can and kill Grimm. It's why we're here, right?"

"Yeah." Cardin said hesitantly, gripping his mace tightly. "It's why we're here."

 **With Ruby and the others**

"We have our pieces, so I don't understand why we should stay." Ren said, leaning on the ruin.

"I'd like to make sure my other friend makes it here." Ruby poked the no longer ninja in the chest. "So you can go on ahead, but I'm staying to make sure he gets here."

"And your partner?" He said, swatting her hand away. "What does she think?"

"I'm actually in full agreement with Ruby." Weiss backed her friend up. "Besides, we still have enough time to get back up the cliffs so I see no rush."

"Pyrrha?" Ren asked his partner, hoping to have someone on his side.

"Sorry Ren, but I wish to see all of us make it through initiation." The redhead said while fiddling with the chess piece in her hands.

"Yang? Blake?" He asked the blonde and raven haired duo.

"I'd go with you." Yang scratched her cheek while not looking him in the eye. "But it wouldn't feel right for me to leave my sister behind just like that."

"Partners have to stick together." Blake nodded, sticking by Yang.

Heaving a sigh, Ren had climbed back onto the ruins to get a higher vantage point of things. While he did so, Ruby had sneakily snagged a piece of his hair to use psychometry on later. By now, she had a collection of her friends' hairs. It may be creepy, but it was easier than taking a personal belonging.

 **With Nora and Sky**

While Jaune and Cardin were on the right track to the ruins, Nora and Sky had bumped into Russell and Dove while heading in the wrong direction. After agreeing to travel together for safety in numbers, they had came across a cave.

"I think it's obvious the ruins aren't in there." Dove stated while looking at the drawings.

"Then again," Russell rubbed his chin. "We haven't seen or heard any other students for a while now, so maybe they went through here and found the ruins. What do you guys think?"

"Let's give it a shot." Sky shrugged, taking out a glowstick and walking in. "If it's there, its there. If it isn't, we run out and retrace our steps."

"And if there's a Grimm inside?" Dove asked.

"We kill it, duh." Nora hefted her weapon to show her point. Not waiting any longer, she marched in while whistling a tune that echoed through the walls of the cave.

"Dude." The Mohawk teen said to Sky while watching the girl walk with a small sway in her hips. "You're partner is hot. Like… in a badass sweet ass kind of way."

"I can hear you." The ginger shouted inside, sounding both miffed and proud.

Gulping, the three males had slowly followed while making sure to keep a small distance from her. As they went deeper into the cave, they noticed how humid the air was getting. The three boys immediately stopped the moment they saw Nora not moving while holding her weapon in rocket launcher mode.

"Nora?" Sky whispered, taking his weapon out while giving the glowstick to Russell.

"Everyone move back slowly." She ordered them in a serious tone.

In front of her was a horde of Creeps. They were currently just breathing hard while staring in their direction, waiting for them to make a move. Anything to provoke them to attack.

While slowly backing up, Dove's heel bumped into a rock that rolled and echoed through the walls. It was enough as the Creeps roared and started charging after them. Nora fired a shot above them while running back to the entrance, causing the ceiling to collapse as they continued to run out. Seeing the light, the four pumped their legs faster as they jumped out to avoid getting squashed.

"Oh my god!" Dove heaved, running his hands through his hair. "I think my heart is pumping too fast. I am tastin' adrenaline guys! And it tastes like coconut."

"Just shut man." The Mohawk teen rasped on all fours. "Ah, I need a drink."

"Hey, at least we got away." Sky said while sitting on the grass. He soon felt he had to retract that statement as soon as the cave started shaking.

With a mighty roar a Creep the size of a Deathstalker had emerged from the cave entrance, breaking it open and having smaller Creeps running out.

"Cheese it!" Nora shouted, grabbing her partner and getting far away from the colossal Grimm.

As the four continued to run away from the horde and it's leader, they saw a shot fired into the air coming from their right. Taking a chance in hoping it was someone signaling from the ruins, the four ran towards the source of the shot while taking out Grimm who got too close.

 **With Ruby and co a moment ago**

"Did anyone else hear that loud roar?" Yang asked, getting on the defensive.

"Yeah." Pyrrha nodded, taking her weapons out. "Do you think we should leave?"

POW!

Hearing a gunshot and a fire dust being shot into the air, the group turned to see Ruby with sniper pointed into the air and smoking.

"W-why would you do that?!" Ren shouted, seeing a huge black figure heading their way now from his spot atop the ruins. "You just alerted the Grimm towards us."

"And I also got whoever it might be chasing to get here where there are people to help." Ruby shot back, heading up to him and taking a position with her sniper.

 _'_ _The old Ren was nice and willing to help others without a moments thought.'_ The time traveler thought while finding a position to snipe whatever came their way. _'I hope he isn't like this most of the time.'_

"You can run and hide if you want." She continued, not turning away from her scope. "But I'm staying here to help the others."

"Our objective was to get the pieces and leave." The magenta eyed teen said through gritted teeth. "This isn't our concern."

"If that's all you care about, then you're a poor excuse as a future hunter!" Ruby shouted, getting tired of Ren's attitude.

That had gotten all of their friends' attention. Looking up to the two having a heated conversation, Yang placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder to sop her from interfering.

"Hunters help people." She snarled, looking him in the eye to show the fire in hers. "They kill Grimm, bring hope, and do what they can to save others."

"That's-" Before he could get a word in she shot him down.

"And I CAN help them." She butted his head hard. "I'm strong. I can fight. So why should I run when I know I help? You wanna go? Go then! You cant handle it, so you want to leave."

"Shut up!" He shouted, standing up to look down on her. "I can fight! I'm strong too!"

Ruby smirked as she saw a glimpse of the friend she once knew.

"So what are you running from?" She said, turning back to her scope.

Jumping down, Ren joined the others as they readied themselves to help whoever came to them. As they saw the trees falling and a Creep jump out a few miles away from them, they were about to fire but stopped as it had exploded with a small crater replacing where it once was.

Nora, Sky, Dove, and Russell appeared out of the forest with weapons drawn and riding atop one of the other Creeps. Seeing the others at the ruins, the four stabbed their weapons into the Grimm they were riding and sprinted to join them. The smile on the Valkyrie's face fell when she saw Ren standing with the others.

"I see you made it." She sneered, flipping a stray hair away from her face. "I'm surprised you didn't leave the moment you got here."

"I had other things on my mind." Ren rolled his eyes at his bitter rival and old friend. "And I see you brought trouble with you. I'm not surprised by that at all."

Before the two could continue on, Nora's partner had came up to her with a chess piece in hand. Ruby couldn't tell which piece he had pocketed, but it didn't matter as the horde of Grimm had arrived. From behind them they heard rustling from the bushes as a Grimm fell out with Jaune and Cardin on top of it looking sweaty.

"Sup?" The blonde greeted his friends after taking his jambiya out of the Grimm's hide.

Cardin grunted with a small wave and proceeded to walk over to grab his chess piece.

"Hey." Yang waved, walking up to help her fellow blonde up. "Nice entrance by the way. Glad you could finally make it."

"Sorry." The snake said with a smile, looking behind her to see the horde coming at them. "It looks like we made it in time to help."

"Nope." Cardin grunted, pocketing his chess piece. "Look man, the objective was to get a chess piece and get out. WE got what was asked, so we're getting out of here."

"Thank you." Ren sighed, finally meeting someone he could talk to and turning to Ruby. "So that means we can go now, right Ruby?"

The time traveler wasn't answering as she was trying to shoot down as many of the Creeps coming near them. Taking out her empty clip and replacing it with one specially marked she fired off an earth powered round that cracked the ground below the Grimm, causing them to fall into a shallow sinkhole to buy them more time. As the smaller ones scattered away, the only one left was the huge Creep stepping over the sinkholes like they were anthills.

"We're not going anywhere with that big guy blocking our path." Weiss said, readying a glyph. "Sunset is almost close, so fighting isn't an option now."

"So we run by the guy and head on up the cliffs." The blonde brawler shrugged, finding it easy. "Sounds good."

"Everyone stick with your partners and stay with the group." Cardin told them with authority in his voice. "Let's get this done right."

Nodding, the group ran ahead while avoiding to get caught by the Grimm. A few small Grimm had survived, but were easily taken down as Ruby zipped ahead to slice them up. Anything that came too close was burnt, cleaved, or pierced as the group didn't stop for anything.

Making it to the cliff they were launched from, Ruby saw that there was no longer any stone bridge or abyss but an open plain with a zigzagging narrow pathway going upwards to the top. This was one of those other things she'd have to ask Ozpin about once they met up. Forming a line, the group went in a single file with Weiss in the front while being careful not to fall.

The giant Grimm saw it couldn't follow the group of trainees as they ran up. Thirty feet high, Ruby looked down to see the giant Creep moving back while still facing them. Seeing it then lowering it's head, she shouted for all of them to brace themselves. The Creep charged forward and rammed the cliff, causing a tremor that had them all shaking. It had continued doing so while they tried to move upwards.

After the fifth time, the land under Ren, Blake, and Sky's feet had loosened and they started falling. Seeing their partners in danger, Pyrrha along with Yang and Nora jumped after them with weapons drawn. Ruby followed after her sister, and Weiss did the same to help out with Dove and Russell jumping down to help their new friends. Just as Jaune was about to join them, Cardin had caught his arm before he could jump down.

"Are you nuts?" The brunette growled, keeping his partner in place. "It's not our problem."

"But they need our help." The blonde snake pointed to their friends below. "We cant just ignore them."

"Yes we can!" Cardin shouted, spit flying into Jaune's face. "They can handle it. So let's get up there and pass this initiation. It's not our faults they wanted to play hero."

Looking down, Jaune saw the group trying to get back up while firing a few rounds to drive the Grimm away. The Grimm was getting hurt, but it didn't stop in causing the tremors. With another tackle, the pathway under them was destroyed once more and they were on the bottom floor with the big bad Grimm.

"Cardin, they're stuck down there." Jaune said, trying to get his arm out of his partner's grip. "They'll need help."

"They can find a way." His partner didn't budge, trying to drag him up the cliff with him. "Now let's keep moving. The sun's almost-"

"No!" The blonde shouted, pulling his arm away with all his force. "I'm helping them with or without you."

Jumping down, Jaune shouted a battle cry as he summoned a wall of fire from his knife to push the Grimm back. It was holding it back, but the flames were slowly dying out as the Grimm tried to get past it.

"How's everyone doing?" He asked Ruby, who was firing a few rounds over the flames.

"Not so good." She muttered, aiming another shot into the Grimm's open mouth. "Ren's leg is broken from the fall, and Sky's shoulder was popped out of it's socket. Everyone else is okay though."

As Jaune moved to inspect Ren, he froze at seeing Crocea Mors at his hip. He didn't get a clear look at it when they first saw each other, but now he could see it clearly. Quenching whatever he was thinking for later, looked over the guy's broken leg. Nothing was protruding out, so it was safe to assume it was a simple hairline fracture. Turning back to the Grimm behind his wall of fire, Jaune swung once more to have the fire rise again.

"Do you think you can hold that up long enough for all of us to get up?" Ruby asked, continuing to fire more bullets to weaken the Grimm more.

"Not really." He said sadly, looking at the fire crystal's power. "Too much use of the fire makes it weaker each time. The next swing wont be enough to make a wall."

"Then we'll have to fight that thing." The hooded girl sighed, seeing the sun lowering. "And it looks like we'll be failing initiation."

Gripping his knife, the blonde forced a smile while putting a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "At least we tried. I hear there's always next year."

"Yeah." Ruby mumbled, not sure how this would affect the events. "Next year."

As the flames died down, the Grimm took a cautious step over the burnt earth towards them looking battered from all the bullets shot at it. As Ruby shifted her gun into scythe mode and the others got ready to fight, they heard a loud shout coming from above them. It was a familiar one to Jaune, but sounding more angry than scared.

WAM!

With the help of gravity and his aura, Cardin had managed to jump down and smash his mace onto the Grimm's plated head and causing a crack. Clicking the trigger on his mace, he made an explosion that had him fly back to be caught by Jaune and Yang.

"You came back?" The blonde snake asked his partner.

"Whatever." The bulky teen muttered, turning away with a pout. "I wouldn't be Cardin 'fucking' Winchester if I ran."

Ruby took note of the Grimm's broken mask and continued firing on where it was cracked, causing it to chip away and grow larger. As it staggered back from the pain, Yang and Cardin jumped to continue hammering at it's head until the mask was now completely broken. While they were attacking it's head, Jaune was cutting it's legs and causing serious damage by using the rest of the fire crystal's energy to superheat the blade. Cutting the Grimm's leg and bringing it off balance, Ruby used her semblance to shoot herself straight forward and stab her scythe deep into the huge open crack Cardin and Yang made on it's head. Once the Grimm showed signs of scattering in the winds, the group cheered while thrusting their weapons in the air.

"We may not have passed, but we at least we have something to tell when we head back home." Ruby sighed, walking to her sister. "It looks like I'll be taking the normal way into Beacon."

"I think you're all giving up too soon, Ms. Rose." Came a voice from the broken pathway. Turning towards it, the group saw Ozpin and Glynda walking towards them with the pathway now restored with the blonde adviser's aid. "Glyna may have said the time limit is until the sun sets, but I still see a bit of sun peeking over the mountains just ahead. If you all hustle now, I believe you will have enough time to pass."

Taking his word, the groups picked up their injured and sprinted up the pathway with dust kicking up behind them. As they did, they left Ozpin and Glynda standing while watching the Grimm continue to dissipate.

"They all failed." Glynda told the headmaster once they were out of earshot. "You know this. So why give them special treatment?"

"Dear Glynda." The old time traveler smirked. "Surely you can see the great potential they hold. Despite any form of animosity they may hold for one another, they are still able to work together to take down a greater Grimm. Would you really turn away such potential if shown to you?"

"…I wouldn't." The blonde woman admitted, looking back to her scroll. "I just hope nothing comes out of this. Especially with who they are. Not only Summer's children, but with the Arc's-"

"Worry not Gynda." Ozpin waved, walking up the pathway and motioning her to follow. "I'm very confident nothing bad would come that cannot be fixed."

"If you say so, Ozpin." As she followed the man up, Glynda could only wonder what the wise man had planned in that mind of his. She felt that he has been keeping her in the dark about many things.

 **Hours later at the auditorium**

While standing with the others, Ruby could only wonder who would be teamed up. She made sure that team RWBY would form, but after seeing Nora and Jaune not being partnered up, she was now panicking internally. As Ozpin stepped forward to the podium he had called her team up first.

"You four took the white knight pieces." The headmaster announced. "From this day on, you will be known as Team RWBY …lead by Weiss Schnee."

The audience clapped while Yang and Blake congratulated the white haired teen on her new position. To Ruby, she stared at Ozpin who held a small smirk she could see was meant for her. The two would have much to talk about. Stepping down, Ozpin continued to call on the others.

"Pyrrha Nikos. Arc Lie Ren. Nora Valkyrie. and Sky Lark." The old man listed the names. "You four took the white rook pieces. From this day, you are Team PRSN(Persian)… lead by Pyrrha Nikos."

While Ren and Sky clapped for their new leader, Nora had lifter her onto her shoulders with a smile on her face to better show her to the audience. After walking down with Pyrrha still sitting on Nora's shoulders, Ozpin continued.

"Jaune Niege. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. And Russell Thrush." Ruby wondered what name the headmaster had thought for them. "You four picked the white bishop pieces. From this day, you are Team JCND(Jacaranda)… lead by Jaune Niege."

As the boys patted their new leader on the back with Cardin grudgingly accepting him with people watching, they stepped off as Glynda took over for the headmaster.

"These are the students who have made it into Beacon. I welcome you and hope to see you in class." She said before summarizing the teams once more. "And the teams are…"

While Glynda did so, Ruby never took her eyes off Ozpin as he walked out to head to his tower. The way Ozpin treated her when they met in the jail cell still irked her. He wasn't the same kind old man that greeted her with cookies and wise advice.

Walking with her team to their assigned dorm, they were neighbors to PRSN who were across from them while JCND were given a dorm one floor above them. Today had been nothing but weird and unexpected changes for Ruby Rose. For now, she would have to adapt and find a way to bring them all together if she wanted to save them all. Closing her eyes and going to sleep, she tried to calm herself of the unknown tomorrow.

 **To be continued…**

* * *

 **AN: And that chapter is done. A lot of foreboding as each team now has something they need to jump over. And what of Ozpin? What is his game in changing things? And what of Ruby and her plans to save everyone?**

 **Truthfully I was going to make an omake of an unknown event, but decided to leave it for the next chapter because it was important to the storyline. But here's an omake anyways!**

* * *

 **Follow the leader**

"And the leader of team PRSN is …Arc Lie Ren." Ozpin informed the group.

"Thank you headmaster." Ren bowed while turning to his team. "As my first decree as leader, all females on the group must change to COMBAT MINISKIRTS!"

"Even me?" Pyrrha squeaked, conscious on showing her legs.

"Of course." Ren nodded with a smirk with nose in the air. Sky was instantly hugging his leg like a happy lapdog.

"You're the best leader ever!" The spearman cheered. "I'll follow you to the ends of time."

 **Let's see what would have happened if someone else got to be a leader.**

"And your team leader is …Yang Xiao Long."

"Thank you headmaster Ozpin" Yang said with a salute and other hand behind her back. "Under my rule: I WILL MAKE TEAM RWBY GREAT!"

"O-okay?" Ozpin said unsure of what was happening.

"Guys." The blonde brawler held her hand up straight. "High five! High five!"

 **That's foreboding. Let's see another!**

"And your team leader is …Russell Thrush."

"Yeah bay-bey!" The Mohawk teen shouted while pelvic thrusting the public then running to hug his teammates. "Don't worry Ozzy baby. My team and me will be bringing sexy to Beacon. Right ladies!"

"Mr. Thrush." The headmaster rubbed his temple over the screams of and cheers of women. "Please stop -erhm! Humping the side of Mr. Niege."

"Ruby! Give me a tenner." Yang shouted while holding up some Lien. "I think if I throw enough they'll start stripping each other!"

 **Okay. That's enough… alright maybe one more.**

"And your team leader is …Blake Belladonna."

"…"

"…"

"… Do you not have anything to say, Ms. Belladonna?" Ozpin asked.

"Nope." The cool girl said, pulling her team down so the others could go next. As they were out of the public's hearing, she whispered something to her team. "Panty raid tomorrow night. All genders."

Her team snickered sinisterly as they planned the old tradition.

* * *

 **Ok, now it's done. …Really it's over. We all know Nora's going to be an evil dictator queen while forcing Pyrrha into a princess Leia slave girl outfit while the boys are her slaves that carry her while she sits on a throne.**

 **So team names first. If you dont think those colors exist look em up. I had to.**

 **Now appearance-wise, CRDL looks the same with some slight changes to armor detail. For Pyrrha, think of Yozora from Haganai with the short hair and tracksuit only with colors changed. If Pyrrha is going to be a famous 'loser,' then why not give her a character that seems unpopular but has great skills.**

 **Yang's just wearing her volume 4 outfit. I really like it. The cute bumblebee, the simple jacket, all of it.**

 **Weiss is dressed like a mini-Winter. Her clothes really are hand-me-downs. Without a super … is it a conglomerate or vertical integration? Maybe a chain? Look it up later. So without the company, I doubt she could afford those nice dresses and rich classy outfits we see in all three seasons including the leaked volume 4 one.**

 **Blake is in her volume 2 outfit without the cat ears. Why'd I not make her a cat faunus? You'll see. It'll be revealed like everything else.**

 **Nora is like Unworthy Thor but with a breastplate that shows off her bust and her combat skirt being a darker shade of pink. I was planning on making her like Gwenpool, but then the hammer was just something predictable in my opinion.**

 **Ren is like Hakuryuu from Magi, except without the burn scar and all those ornaments. At first I was just going to have him like some sort of samurai like Yatsuhashi, but then another part of me said "Hey Jitters. Remember how Jaune said Ren was like the brother he never had?" Hehe. Oh the things that will happen.**

 **And for Jaune… think of genderbent Ikumi Mito from Shokugeki no Soma but with blue eyes. That's what happens when I watch Free! and Shokugeki at the same time. And if you're wondering why he's a faunus? I needed a really good reason for his dad not to want him besides his mom being a prostitute.**

 **So there we go! Some things explained. Hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't: Well, okay. And if you did: Look forward to the next chapter! It's class time along with teenage drama! …No not really. But there will be deeper drama as Ruby tries all she can to confront Ozpin and look into the pasts of her friends.**


	5. The Time has Changed

Disclaimer: **The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!**

 **Chapter 5:** The time has changed

 _Ruby was dreaming. At least, that's what she thought she was doing._

 _Before her was a scene in black and white similar to the old movies her mom and Yang would watch. It was a living room with a fireplace and a fake Ursa skin rug in front of it. And on top of that rug were two people, a man and a woman. And that was it. Everything around them was shattered. Like the setup to a scene in some studio, but what surrounded it was shattered glass and infinite darkness._

 _Try as she could she couldn't make out their faces as they were blurred out. She desperately wanted to turn away as the two soon to be half naked couple moved their heads closer. The smacking of lips and other wet noises disgusted her as she was forced watched it happen. As the woman got up for air with her chest heaving, she breathed out in hoarse voice Ruby felt familiar with, but couldn't for the life of her point on._

" _I love you *******." The woman moaned, laying down on the man's chest._

" _I love you too, *********." His voice was also familiar, but Ruby couldn't remember._

 _What made things worse was that the names were drowned out. It was like a memory, but it was incomplete. Still unable to turn away, she saw the woman unbuttoning the man's pants while he was unclipping her bra._

 _Flash_

"RUBY!" Weiss shouted, pulling the covers off her partner. "Wake up. It's thirty minutes before class."

The time traveler was never more happy to be yelled awake by anyone in her life till now. Sitting up and looking at her team, she saw they were all dressed in uniform and were waiting on her. As she got out of bed, the reaper remembered the events of yesterday and sighed at what had happened. She failed to recreate her past timeline and Weiss was now the leader of Team RWBY.

She was happy for her partner, but it just complicated everything she was trying to fix. Things may be different, but the deaths would still follow through. And the person that should be helping her was being a huge dingus on it all. One way or another, she and Ozpin needed to have a long talk.

 **Fifteen minutes later**

After taking a shower and putting on her uniform, Ruby was ready to start her day with her friends. Her talk with the headmaster would have to wait. For now, she needed teams to build bridges with.

"Should we wake team …PRSN up?" Ruby asked her team, hoping they'd say yes. "I think after yesterday, we could all be great friends."

"I don't see why not." Blake shrugged, going over to knock on their door. She immediately stopped the moment her scroll started ringing a funny song. "E-excuse me. I need to take this call."

As Blake stepped aside to answer her scroll, Ruby walked over to Pyrrha's team door and knocked. Hearing shuffling and a loud thud, she was greeted to a sight of Pyrrha in her footie pajamas with a nasty case of bed hair and the rest of her team dressed for class.

"Hi Pyyrha." Ruby greeted with a friendly smile. "I- well _we_ were hoping you guys would like to walk to class with us."

"That sounds great." The famous loser nodded, pushing the males out in the process. "I'm not ready as you can see but don't worry! I'll be ready in five minutes."

"A-are you sure?" Weiss asked in concern. "You don't have to rush because of us."

In her old timeline Weiss would have rushed everyone to go faster, but this Weiss was more lax and considerate. It was still foreign to Ruby as it was something she thought she'd never see.

"It's fine." They heard the muffled words through the door. "I took a bath last night, so just a quick shower will do."

If she could find a way to time travel once more, Ruby swore she'd make sure this Pyrrha was not a loser. Turning to Blake, she overheard the last part of her conversation before she hung up.

"Yes, I took a bath." The former cat faunus grumbled while rolling her eyes. "…None! …Okay, maybe one or two. But it's nothing serious! …I'm seventeen! I'm old enough to have one. …I know. …I know! …Ok. Love you too. Bye."

Hanging up, she gave a sheepish grin to her team who were looking at her with a raised brow.

"My dad." She huffed, pocketing her scroll. "I was supposed to call him last night to tell him how I was doing, but you know."

"Oh shoot!" Yang grabbed her head in panic while looking at her sister. "I forgot to call mom last night! She's probably worried."

"Maybe we can call her at lunch?" The time traveler suggested, trying to calm her down.

"Let's hope she's not pissed." The blonde mumbled, walking to lean on the wall.

 **Ten minutes later**

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha cried as they all ran to their class.

While in the showers, the redhead had spaced out and lost track of time. To make matters worse her uniforms were three sizes too big for her, so she had to find a belt to keep her skirt from falling down.

Running in front of all of them, the tall redhead saw the door to their classroom and slowed down to open it quietly in case the professor was in. Taking a peek in, she was glad to see that it was still filling up with students. Looking around, Ruby saw Jaune waving at them from the second row in front. Russell was sitting next to him while Cardin and Dove sat in the front rows with notebooks out.

"Morning." Weiss greeted her fellow leader, getting a seat behind him with her team while Pyrrha sat next to the blonde snake with Ren next to her. Nora and Sky had taken the vacant seats next to Cardin and Dove in front. "The teacher hasn't arrived yet?"

"Nah." The Mohawk teen answered for his leader. "Attendance wasn't taken yet, so you're all still good."

While Weiss and Yang sighed in relief with Blake taking her notebook out for notes, Ruby continued to observe them all with mixed feelings. It was hard to see CRDL being around them without remembering how they were before. She never got to know them on any other basis besides classmates in her last timeline, so seeing the four interacting with them and being nice was new. Especially with Jaune's status being a faunus.

"So who's the professor?" Weiss asked her fellow leader. "I heard some rumors from the upper years that Beacon hired two new teachers for this year."

Another bit of news Ruby wasn't aware of. Things were spiraling out of control and she was getting lost on what to do.

"It was some fat guy." Jaune answered, getting a stern look and nudge from his partner. "What? It's true, isn't it?"

"You still shouldn't call a professor that." Cardin advised him with a huff.

"Well the man wasn't really packing a six pack." Russell sided with his leader. "If anything, he was holding a keg."

That got a laugh out of the group besides Cardin, Ren, and Dove. Even Ruby had to give credit to that one. Looking over them once more, she was glad to see they were smiling. The last image she had before going back in time was not something she'd ever want to see again.

' _I'm going to save you all.'_ She thought with determination, gripping her hood tightly. _'This time, things will be different.'_

In a certain office high atop Beacon, another time traveler had thought the same thing as he looked over the city of Vale.

 **Minutes later**

"Wonder what's taking the prof so long." Yang mumbled, getting tired of waiting.

"If he's not here in the next ten minutes I think we're allowed to leave class." Pyrrha pointed out, remembering one of the rules placed in their student handbook.

"Not really the best impression for Tactics class." Weiss stated her opinion.

"We're in Tactics class?" Ruby asked in surprise, not knowing the news. "I thought this was Grimm Studies."

"Grimm Studies is next class." Blake patted the young girl.

"So who's teaching-" Before Ruby could finish her question, fireworks shot into the class with something shattering next to her. Turning to her left, she saw someone she thought she'd never see in the class.

"Sorry for the delay." A familiar flamboyant voice said as the smoke cleared. "Had a few problems finding the place, but it doesn't matter. Because Roman Torchwick is here!"

"You!" Ruby shouted, using her semblance to try and rush him.

She didn't get far though as he had shattered in front of her and reappeared behind a desk with Neo next to him. "Thank you, dear student of mine. Why don't you join the others right next to scales and muscles over there."

Nodding, Neo had sauntered to sit next to Jaune while giving him a nod in greeting. He didn't return it though as he and the others were wondering why their youngest friend was trying to attack their professor.

"Hya!" Ruby shouted, trying to zip over to deliver a speedy flying kick to Roman's jaw. It didn't connect as he had sidestepped easily out of the way and watched her fly to one of her classmates.

"I get the feeling you don't like me very much." The ginger professor teased, finding some amusement in Ruby's failed attempts. "Do I owe you money or something?"

"Shut up!" Ruby shouted, dashing towards him before she started glowing purple. "Huh?"

Without warning, she was lifted into the air and was floating towards the door where Glynda was holding her crop out. "Care to explain?"

"He's a criminal!" Ruby pointed to Roman. "What's he doing here?"

"I advise you to hold your tongue Ms. Rose." Goodwitch stated crossly. "I was talking to Professor Torchwick."

"My _past_ reputation precedes me." The teacher shrugged while leaning on his table. "Looks like someone didn't get the memo of who the new teacher was."

"But-" Before the time traveler could say a more, Roman had cut her off.

"I was hired kiddo." He continued. "Ozzy thought I'd have a better start as a teacher. Either I rot in jail, or I teach some kiddies how to kill. At the end of the day it's still the same thing. Only in here, I grade you on how you kill. Plus I get paid, can't forget that."

"Ignoring your nickname for the headmaster, I will be taking Ms. Rose to her detention now." Glynda said, walking out with Ruby still floating. "I believe the headmaster has some words he has to say to you, Ms. Rose."

"I'm sorry Professor Goodwitch, but you know who he is." She tried to explain.

"I do, Ms. Rose." She sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly before she straightened up. "But as of now, you still attacked a professor. No matter the pasts, we all need to maintain order despite our doubts."

"Even yours?" Ruby asked, feeling light-headed as she was now upside down with hands keeping her skirt in place.

There was no answer as they entered the elevator heading to Ozpin's office. As they headed up, Ruby took note of how Glynda hadn't changed a bit. She was still strict, but she was also kind and fair. Now that she thought about it, out of all the people around her, she was the only person who didn't seem out of place. Then again, Ruby didn't know her that well to assume anything.

As they reached the top of the tower, they saw Ozpin standing by his window and looking out to Vale. From the reflection, Ruby could tell he was focusing on where the mountains. To be more specific, the spot where witnesses had stated the dragon was.

"I've brought Ms. Rose." Glynda reported, looking to her scroll. "I caught her in the middle of attacking Professor Torchwick."

"First day of class and already causing trouble." Ozpin said, not turning around. "Tell me Ruby, what is it you are hoping to accomplish?"

"Sir?" Ruby was panicking as she thought Ozpin was going to sell out their secret.

As she turned to look at Glynda, she was shocked to see her looking at her scroll with a blank face. She wasn't even looking up from her scroll to acknowledge her or Ozpin's words. Looking around, she noticed that nothing seemed to be moving. The gears that surrounded the office had stopped, even the bord flying outside was frozen in mid flap.

"You stopped time?" The hooded girl gasped, backing away a bit.

"Yes, I did." The headmaster admitted as if he was talking about the weather. "I felt we would need privacy for you to tell me the truth."

That was his mistake, she thought, ready to unleash all her frustration.

"What the fuck!" She shouted, pointing a finger at him. "Not just with Torchwick, but with the teams and the exam! When was there ever a time limit? Why PRSN and JCRD? I'm fine with Weiss being the leader, but everything is all messed up!"

After minutes of just ranting on, Ruby had gasped for air as she had shouted her throat dry.

"Seeing as you are finished, I think it is my turn to talk." The older man said calmly. "What you see happening Ruby is not of my control either. I have no control of anything. I simply live in what is happening and try to adapt to the situation. As I've told you before, I have lived thousands of years in traveling through time. I have made many mistakes, and have done many methods that lead to those mistakes."

"But-"

"I am not done, Ms. Rose." He tapped his cane on the floor. "What you see is me trying to fix things. I am tired Ruby. I've tried to do the same thing over and over with small differences hoping for a different result."

"But it's not happening." He sighed in frustration. "Each time, everyone dies. Not always in the same way, but in the same time. It's insane for me to try things the same way. So I'm doing things differently."

"But JNPR and RWBY." Ruby whispered, wanting her old friends and life.

"Are you not listening?" He ground out, showing signs of anger. "I had no control of that. And if I did, it could be for the better. Every time Jaune and Pyrrha get together, Pyrrha somehow dies. Every time Ren and Nora were friends, they met their end in a tragic demise together. In some way, these miniscule connections are the very demise of someone. You may have manipulated things to get your team back, but not everything works out."

"But what about the White Fang?" She asked. "What about Salem and Cinder? The Breach? I know those things, but my team doesn't."

"I'll have you know that those things will be an impossibility." Ozpin assured her. "We've won Ruby."

"What do you mean?" She asked, not understanding how they had won so early.

"You still don't remember anything?" He asked, walking towards her and then to the elevator. Motioning for her to follow, he pressed a button and waited for the doors to open. "Tell me Ruby, do you remember anything else besides saving your mother?"

"I've told you, no." She muttered as she walked into the elevator as it opened. As Ozpin pressed a sequence of numbers, they had descended to lower levels of the school. "Why?"

"It's best if I show you." He said cryptically, waiting for the doors to open. As they reached their destination, he walked out and motioned for Ruby to stick close.

Ruby knew this place. The Jaune of her past timeline had told of how the Fall Maiden was in a machine. He was right in one thing: It was creepy. Looking ahead, she saw the machine. Ozpin had walked towards it and wiped the glass where frost had accumulated.

"Come." He called her to see.

Running up to the machine, she wondered if who she saw would a different Maiden. But who she saw inside shocked her to her bones and had her reel back in fright and surprise. For lying frozen with eyes closed and injured was the Grimm witch Salem.

"O-Ozpin." She whispered, looking at him with mixed emotions. "How? When?"

"I believe the when was seventeen years ago." He said, remembering when he had found her. "As for the how, I think you should know it by now. Perhaps a touch would jog the memory."

Getting what he meant, Ruby stood up with shaky knees to place her hand on the glass. She didn't get that far as Ozpin had stopped her to hold out a scrap of fabric for her.

"This is a piece of Salem's clothing." He said, placing it in her hand. "It should be easier than touching glass."

Nodding, Ruby took the fabric and readied herself.

 _Flash_

" _Milady." Dr. Watts gasped through his injuries. He was cut in numerous places and had one arm gone. "I'm sorry."_

 _With one quick swoop, the villain was beheaded where he crawled._

" _So you've killed all my men." Salem sneered, looking around for her attacker. "Care to show who dares to defy me?"_

" _Behind you." A cold voice whispered._

 _The last Salem saw before a scythe lodged itself in her chest was silver eyes blazing with the scent of roses in the air._

 _Flash_

"Guh!" Ruby gasped as she let go of the fabric. She couldn't believe what had happened. "What? W-w-who?"

"That was you." Ozpin said, picking the fabric back up. "From what I could gather, you saved your mother by having your father take her place on a mission. But before that, you killed Salem and her group before they could recruit Cinder. Sadly, you weren't successful as you only fatally injured and froze her in place."

"Then why cant I remember it?!" She cried, raking her hands through her hair in frustration and stress while looking at the frozen witch. "Why can't I remember stopping her? How are you sure it was me? And why is she even here?"

"The other two questions I cannot answer, but as to why she is here." The headmaster said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "With her here, she can be easily monitored. As to how I know it was you: Look closer Ruby."

Doing so, Ruby gazed at the sleeping Salem in the pod. She took notice of how small her breathing was. It wasn't even that noticeable at first glance with how little her chest moved. Roaming over her body, she saw something that stood out the most. It was a jagged piece of metal stabbed deep where Salem's heart should be. Looking closer, she saw it was a double pronged jagged blade similar to what she had on-

"Crescent Rose." She whispered, seeing the small part that belonged on the bottom shaft of her scythe.

"Indeed." Ozpin nodded, pulling her back. "On my way to confront Salem, I saw traces of heavy battle. Besides the wound she had, I also saw bits of rose petals lying around. I'd be a fool not to recognize your work."

As they walked back to the elevator, Ruby's mind swam aimlessly. The sole reason she had gone back in time was to save her friends. But in the process she had taken the main obstacle that forged their ties even closer.

"What now?" She asked her fellow time traveler in a whisper.

"Why ask me?" The old man said, pressing the button that headed to his office. "It's your life."

Remembering a rule he had taught her, Ruby's eyes widened. "Death!"

"Excuse me?" Ozpin said, not expecting that answer.

"I still need to make sure they all survive." She said frantically. "Where there is death, there is death! I need to find some way to stop them all from dying."

The headmaster said nothing as he just simply nodded. After the ride back up to his office, he had gotten back into his position and ordered Ruby to stand next to the frozen Glynda. With a snap of his fingers, time had started once more.

"First day in class and already challenging your teachers." Ozpin acted out his role. Turning around, he gave Ruby a level glare with cane in hand. "Ms. Rose. I hope I haven't made a mistake in bringing you into my school so early."

"I'm sorry sir." Ruby bowed with an apologetic tone. "I just cant understand why Roman is a teacher here."

Ozpin took note of how Glynda nodded slightly with her statement.

"I believe in giving people second chances." He justified himself in a calm tone. "Why make an enemy that lasts days when I can make an ally that lasts a lifetime?"

Ruby knew the underlying meaning. If Roman was an ally on their side, that was one less problem for them.

"Roman and any other of his associates are under my watchful eye. You have no need to stress yourself on them." He added.

' _I'm keeping an eye on him and the others.'_ She read between the lines. _'Don't get involved.'_

"Yes, sir." She nodded.

"Since today is your first day and I can understand your reason to panic, I will give you this one chance off." Ozpin said, taking a seat. "But the next offence will have a parent meeting if you aren't careful. Now run along now. I'm sure Professor Torchwick is expecting an apology by now."

After all was said and done, Glynda had escorted Ruby back to Tactics class where Roman was in the middle of discussing the great use of words. After an apology and a small pat on the head, Ruby sat next to her partner while observing her friends.

What Ozpin had said about connections bringing the downfall of others had gotten to her. She saw Pyrrha and Jaune sitting close while the blonde entertained her with a drawing that had her snicker. She saw Nora eyeing Ren with a glare that could have burnt a hole into his head while the quiet boy was looking over to his partner and the leader of team JCRD. She then looked at her team.

Had forming team RWBY been a mistake? Would them being together cause their deaths in the long run? And what of Jaune and Pyrrha? Would Pyrrha die once more because of her feelings for Jaune? Would Ren and Nora choose to die together once more?

"-and as I end my lecture, I give you this wise piece of advice related to today's topic." Roman said to his class. "Anyone can say what is and isn't. But it's another to make others believe it. That's all for today so get out."

"Sir I have a question." Weiss raised her hand.

"No you don't." Roman laughed, walking out of the class. "As of now you are someone else's problem."

It would take awhile for anyone to get used to Professor Roman.

 **End**

 **AN: And here's an update! Art classes are something. The projects ARE the exams and I had to do case studies. But what hurts the most is having those lazy teammates that do nothing. Couldn't remember their names so I couldn't report who was the leech.**

 **Bet no one was expecting Salem to already be defeated. If that's the case then what's the conflict? It's getting there. This is just a storm slowly brewing. There are hints of what is to come though.**


End file.
